This invention relates to improvements in motor vehicles, and more particularly to improvements in power trains for motor vehicles. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in power trains of the type wherein a prime mover (such as an internal combustion engine) can drive a change-speed transmission by way of a torque transmitting device (e.g., a friction clutch), wherein discrete first and second actuating means are respectively provided for the transmission and the torque transmitting device, and wherein a control unit is associated with and can automatically control the first actuating means as well as the torque transmitting device. As a rule, actuation of such change-speed transmission involves the resort to two components of movement, namely a so-called gear or gear ratio selector component and a gear shifting component.
It is already known to employ a first drive which can be operated to select a particular gear ratio, and a discrete second drive which shifts the transmission into a selected gear. The movements which are generated or transmitted by the two drives are respectively converted into or transmitted in the form of rotary and translatory movements of the gear shifting shaft of the transmission with attendant changes of the covered distance and of the applied forces.
A drawback of presently known power trains of the above outlined character is that the operative connections between the drives and the gear shifting shaft of the transmission are less than satisfactory, at least during certain stages of operation of the prime mover. The requirements upon the movement- or distance-selecting or imparting and upon the force-transmitting constituents, upon the speed and duration of the gear shifting movement, as well as upon the comfort to the occupant(s) of the motor vehicle during shifting render it necessary to resort to complex and hence expensive designs which occupy substantial amounts of space and the installation of which in a motor vehicle involves much labor and considerable additional expenses.